Top Law Schools

I'm 3 years out at a mid-sized firm in secondary market in slightly above COL area. I make $96k

Fine.

Piss off, I make roughly half of your salary and I'm on track to bill 1,800 hours this year.

Sorry, just got a little depressed tonight after realizing that a few of my little sister's friends who are a few years out of college were making almost as much as me, in really random jobs (and no loans). Ugh.

SFB222 wrote:Sorry, just got a little depressed tonight after realizing that a few of my little sister's friends who are a few years out of college were making almost as much as me, in really random jobs (and no loans). Ugh.

Oh yeah it's fine for law. Shitty for the real world for someone 6 years removed undergrad that was smart.

JohannDeMann wrote:

SFB222 wrote:Sorry, just got a little depressed tonight after realizing that a few of my little sister's friends who are a few years out of college were making almost as much as me, in really random jobs (and no loans). Ugh.

Oh yeah it's fine for law. Shitty for the real world for someone 6 years removed undergrad that was smart.

and i went to an ivy undergrad (slaps forehead)

sack up. you're fine.

Depends how many hours you work each week.

if reliably 40hrs/week, you are great.

if 50/week, it's ok

if 60+/week, kinda shitty

if 80/week, really shitty

lukertin wrote:Depends how many hours you work each week.

if reliably 40hrs/week, you are great.

if 50/week, it's ok

if 60+/week, kinda shitty

if 80/week, really shitty

Lmao. this.

not to add to your unhappiness but my little cousin is a rising senior in college at a decent but not top private college majoring in computer science with a 3.2 gpa (I edited his resume). his internship this summer in SV (FB, apple, goog) has him making the equivalent of 100k/yr + 3k/mo (housing stipend).

my point: if you wanted to make money, law was/is not the answer. regardless, he's just as miserable becuase he hates CS lol. so don't feel TOO bad.

Seems a little low to me. You could probably get more if your shopped the lateral market.

Let's put this in perspective, folks. You probably make around twice the median household income in the city you live in. That's pretty amazing for someone in his or her 20s (or early 30s).

(Incidentally, I think you also make somewhat above the median lawyer salary, which also ain't bad given you're in a manageable COL area and are still early career.)

Anonymous User wrote:Let's put this in perspective, folks. You probably make around twice the median household income in the city you live in. That's pretty amazing for someone in his or her 20s (or early 30s).

(Incidentally, I think you also make somewhat above the median lawyer salary, which also ain't bad given you're in a manageable COL area and are still early career.)

Really helpful use of anon

Anonymous User wrote:Let's put this in perspective, folks. You probably make around twice the median household income in the city you live in. That's pretty amazing for someone in his or her 20s (or early 30s).

(Incidentally, I think you also make somewhat above the median lawyer salary, which also ain't bad given you're in a manageable COL area and are still early career.)

comparing yourself to the median person that is a college dropout or never attended is ridiculous.

No one in this thread is actually helping you figure out whether you are paid what you are worth, which is what you need to figure out. How is your firm doing? How specialized is your practice area? How valuable are you to them? Are you well-liked? Are you better than other associates in your firm? Are you seeing movement in your field, i.e. are people leaving your firm for other firms/is your firm hiring/are other firms in your field hiring? The last thing you should be doing is saying "oh well, could be worse, the median income for a family in my area is ___"

Shaggier1 wrote:http://www.gallup.com/poll/166211/world ... e-000.aspx

This shit is obnoxious and irrelevant. It's like when a person says " you think YOU'RE having a bad day? My car broke down while my boyfriend dumped me." It's completely unrelated to how the first person is doing.

If the person across the street from OP is making $10,000 for doing the same work than OP can't complain. If the person up 5 floors is doing the same work and making $120,000 then op's salary is shitty.

nothingtosee wrote:

Shaggier1 wrote:http://www.gallup.com/poll/166211/world ... e-000.aspx

This shit is obnoxious and irrelevant. It's like when a person says " you think YOU'RE having a bad day? My car broke down while my boyfriend dumped me." It's completely unrelated to how the first person is doing.

If the person across the street from OP is making $10,000 for doing the same work than OP can't complain. If the person up 5 floors is doing the same work and making $120,000 then op's salary is shitty.

Exactly. "Oh, your back hurts? BOO HOO, HERE'S A PICTURE OF A LEPER!"

"My dad died so young, he was only 63"
"LIFE EXPECTANCY IN CHAD IS 49!"

blsingindisguise wrote:No one in this thread is actually helping you figure out whether you are paid what you are worth, which is what you need to figure out. How is your firm doing? How specialized is your practice area? How valuable are you to them? Are you well-liked? Are you better than other associates in your firm? Are you seeing movement in your field, i.e. are people leaving your firm for other firms/is your firm hiring/are other firms in your field hiring? The last thing you should be doing is saying "oh well, could be worse, the median income for a family in my area is ___"

OP is not interested in finding out what they're objectively worth. They just want to complain that despite spending three years immersing themselves in the majesty of the law, they know people who make more.

JohannDeMann wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:Let's put this in perspective, folks. You probably make around twice the median household income in the city you live in. That's pretty amazing for someone in his or her 20s (or early 30s).

(Incidentally, I think you also make somewhat above the median lawyer salary, which also ain't bad given you're in a manageable COL area and are still early career.)

comparing yourself to the median person that is a college dropout or never attended is ridiculous.

Ok: http://time.com/money/3829776/heres-wha ... f-college/
and: http://work.chron.com/average-starting- ... -7716.html

OP - if you want to know if you specifically are being paid fairly, post more details about you and your work. If you want to know if your salary is "shitty," the answer is it's not.

blsingindisguise wrote:

nothingtosee wrote:

Shaggier1 wrote:http://www.gallup.com/poll/166211/world ... e-000.aspx

This shit is obnoxious and irrelevant. It's like when a person says " you think YOU'RE having a bad day? My car broke down while my boyfriend dumped me." It's completely unrelated to how the first person is doing.

If the person across the street from OP is making $10,000 for doing the same work than OP can't complain. If the person up 5 floors is doing the same work and making $120,000 then op's salary is shitty.

Exactly. "Oh, your back hurts? BOO HOO, HERE'S A PICTURE OF A LEPER!"

lol

As for OP's question, I think it's a little low, but depends on exactly what your COL is and imo, on how much debt you have too (although not directly relevant)

96k in like Minneapolis for example is probably worth 400k+ in NYC, as an example

krads153 wrote:

blsingindisguise wrote:

nothingtosee wrote:

Shaggier1 wrote:http://www.gallup.com/poll/166211/world ... e-000.aspx

This shit is obnoxious and irrelevant. It's like when a person says " you think YOU'RE having a bad day? My car broke down while my boyfriend dumped me." It's completely unrelated to how the first person is doing.

If the person across the street from OP is making $10,000 for doing the same work than OP can't complain. If the person up 5 floors is doing the same work and making $120,000 then op's salary is shitty.

Exactly. "Oh, your back hurts? BOO HOO, HERE'S A PICTURE OF A LEPER!"

lol

As for OP's question, I think it's a little low, but depends on exactly what your COL is and imo, on how much debt you have too (although not directly relevant)

96k in like Minneapolis for example is probably worth 400k+ in NYC, as an example

96k in Minneapolis is more like 150k in NYC, but your general point is correct.

Can't know for sure about OP unless we know market and practice

trebekismyhero wrote:

krads153 wrote:

blsingindisguise wrote:

nothingtosee wrote:

Shaggier1 wrote:http://www.gallup.com/poll/166211/world ... e-000.aspx

This shit is obnoxious and irrelevant. It's like when a person says " you think YOU'RE having a bad day? My car broke down while my boyfriend dumped me." It's completely unrelated to how the first person is doing.

If the person across the street from OP is making $10,000 for doing the same work than OP can't complain. If the person up 5 floors is doing the same work and making $120,000 then op's salary is shitty.

Exactly. "Oh, your back hurts? BOO HOO, HERE'S A PICTURE OF A LEPER!"

lol

As for OP's question, I think it's a little low, but depends on exactly what your COL is and imo, on how much debt you have too (although not directly relevant)

96k in like Minneapolis for example is probably worth 400k+ in NYC, as an example

96k in Minneapolis is more like 150k in NYC, but your general point is correct.

Can't know for sure about OP unless we know market and practice

If we're being precise, it's more around ~200k according to the below. But I'm skeptical, honestly, of the website. I compared with my secondary hometown and NYC and think that the website greatly underestimates how much you need to live in NYC at a sort of similar level (at least housing wise).

http://money.cnn.com/calculator/pf/cost-of-living/

I've used Robert Half Legal. Is that legit? I do mostly employment/commercial litigation. Work my ass off 50 hours +

krads153 wrote:
If we're being precise, it's more around ~200k according to the below. But I'm skeptical, honestly, of the website. I compared with my secondary hometown and NYC and think that the website greatly underestimates how much you need to live in NYC at a sort of similar level (at least housing wise).

http://money.cnn.com/calculator/pf/cost-of-living/

I think those sites overestimate how expensive NYC is. Like, sure, you're not getting a 2000 square foot apartment, but no one does. People just live in smaller spaces -- they don't spend (that much) more money.